From Junk Food to Social Media: How Teens Get Manipulated

How do we get our kids to make healthier choices when it comes to resisting junk food, smoking, or social media? In today's podcast episode, Dr. Ruston talks with David Yeager, a leading researcher in the science of youth behavior change, motivation, and the power of mindsets, which are essentially our beliefs.

Yeager studies show what happens when youth — who don't like to be manipulated — are taught about companies' manipulative tactics.

This episode also features segments from our movie, Screenagers Under the Influence, which address the impacts of deceptive marketing by e-cigarette companies like Juul. This episode is intended for adult and youth audiences.

Featured Expert

David Yeager, PhD

Research References

Harnessing adolescent values to reduce unhealthy Snacking (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America)

Values-Alignment Messaging Boosts Adolescents' Motivation to Control Social Media Use (Child Development)

Additional links

Book: "10 to 25, The Science of Motivating Young People," by David S. Yaeger

‍Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising

Robert Jackler, MD

Movie: Screenagers Under The Influence

The Influence of the National truth® Campaign on Smoking Initiation

Time code

00:00 Introduction to Screenagers Podcast

00:36 The Art and Science of Communicating with Teens

01:22 Interview with Researcher David Yeager

02:26 Screenagers Under the Influence: Vaping and Juul

06:44 The Junk Food Industry's Manipulative Tactics

19:04 Impact of Anti-Smoking Campaigns

21:56 Conclusion and Call to Action